


Be Kind

by VictoriaMasson



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Sibling Cora Hale, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Hale is a Failwolf, Derek Hale is a Mess, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Inspired by Music, Karaoke, M/M, Misunderstandings, Singer Stiles Stilinski, The Pack does Karaoke, Warnings for Derek's Life Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaMasson/pseuds/VictoriaMasson
Summary: Inspired by Be Kind (with Halsey) by MarshmelloThe one where Stiles hopes singing a karaoke song will get Derek to open up to him.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 3
Kudos: 71





	Be Kind

**Author's Note:**

> I geniunely couldn't get this idea out of my head and so had to write it out.
> 
> It's a lot more angsty than it was meant to be, but the lyrics of the song are pretty heavy - even if it sounds upbeat and fun. I definitely encourage listening to the song while reading. 
> 
> Warnings for Derek's life - as in mentions of the Hale fire and a super brief mention of Kate. Message me if you have any questions!
> 
> I hope you enjoy my nonsense! Comments/Kudos are always appreciated <3
> 
> \- Victoria

“Derek!” Stiles pounded on the apartment door a few more times for good measure, “Derek, please open the door?”

Stiles let out a frustrated breath, very nearly giving up and heading home. If he were anyone else, they probably would’ve given up hours ago.

“Der, you know I’ll just do this all night. Open the door.” Silence.

It was the anniversary of the Hale house fire.

Stiles and Derek had been dating for the last five years; their romance blossomed during Stiles’ first year of college. Derek had moved into an apartment close to campus after half the pack graduated high school and so Stiles had found himself there many nights doing homework in between dealing with pack business.

A few months of dancing around each other and after years and years of knowing one another, they _finally_ pulled their heads out of their asses and admitted their feelings. It hadn’t been an easy five years by any means – Derek was a difficult man to get through to, he was heavily guarded and wary.

Stiles completely understood why though. With everything that Derek had been through his entire life, Stiles was surprised he wasn’t _more_ fucked up. Not that Stiles would ever say that aloud to him. Derek had a lot of baggage and Stiles learned first hand what his dad had always meant when he said ‘relationships take work’.

But… well… Derek was worth it.

Derek gave Stiles everything, anything he ever wanted or asked for, and he treated him like gold, like royalty. Derek acted like he was at risk of losing Stiles at any moment and so, as a result, Stiles had to fight constantly to get Derek to understand how much he loved and supported him too.

Which is exactly why Stiles was pounding on Derek’s door on the anniversary of arguably the most traumatic event in Derek’s life thus far.

For five years, Stiles has let Derek grieve in peace by himself, since that’s the way Derek preferred it. Five years that he has let himself be pushed aside even though he knew Derek needed someone to hold on to. Five years of looking the other direction while the person he loved fell apart on his own, and Stiles just _couldn’t_ do it anymore.

The night before, the pack had been out having a drink at their preferred local bar. Derek had gotten a call from Cora. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes Derek’s sister would reach out to check in. That’s what Stiles had assumed she was calling for, anyway.

However, he realized quickly how wrong he was when Derek’s face fell and some of his usual stoicism cracked at the surface. Derek’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears and he excused himself from the table for the freedom of saying whatever it was he felt he couldn’t say in front of the pack.

Stiles waited a few moments but when Scott looked at him in deep concern, evidently eavesdropping on the conversation happening just outside the front doors, Stiles got to his feet to follow his boyfriend outside.

“Cora, I told you to stop with the wolfsbane-laced alcohol, it’s not safe – yes I know what tomorrow –” Derek held his nose between two fingers with the hand not holding the phone to his ear. He’d looked over briefly when he noticed Stiles approaching but turned his back to him for the semblance of privacy. “I’m sorry, okay Cora? I’m sorry. I know I’ve made mistakes –” Derek was cut off once again and even Stiles with his human hearing could hear the sounds of screams on the other line.

It was obvious that Cora was drunk, and hurt, and missing her family, but that didn’t give her a right to call and make Derek feel even more guilty than he already did. Stiles felt like his feet were glued to the floor – Derek would need to hear that it wasn’t his fault when he got off the phone and Stiles couldn’t just leave. He knew Derek preferred to deal with these things on his own, but Stiles couldn’t just leave Derek here to wallow alone. Not again.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Cora.” Derek sounded broken – dejected – like he was tired of fighting. He lowered the phone from his ear; Stiles couldn’t be sure who’d hung up first, though he guessed it was Cora. “I’m heading home.” Stiles was surprised at the words directed at him suddenly and he jumped into motion, grabbing Derek’s arm to hold him in place.

“Der…” Stiles trailed off, not sure what he could possibly say first to make it better, “I’ll come with you, just give me a second to grab my jacket.” Derek pulled his arm from Stiles’ grasp – not harshly but insistent enough that Stiles could understand the meaning.

“Stiles. I’m fine. I’ll text you later.” Derek started walking down the sidewalk that led to the car park.

“Derek, no. Come on, I’m here for you okay. Just talk to me.” Stiles had to move at a light jog in order to keep up with the werewolf. Derek said nothing, refusing to look in Stiles’ direction. “It’s not your fault, alright? Cora’s out of line.” The words left Stiles’ mouth before he could help it, and he could hear the bit of anger simmering in his tone. Derek could too.

He stopped short and turned on Stiles abruptly, “What do you know about it, Stiles?” Stiles flinched at the shout and Derek took a step back at the reaction, deflating, “Leave me alone, Stiles. I’m not in a good place right now.”

“So talk to me about it! I’m here for you. I mean, fuck Derek, we’ve been together five fucking years, when are you going to trust me with this?”

“With _what_?” Derek demanded.

“With this!” Stiles gestured wildly to all of Derek’s body, stuttering over his words to explain what he meant, “With… with… you. The _real_ you. The scared boy underneath all this anger, the one who’s been hurt and cheated and betrayed and who just needs someone to rely on. Like… _I’m here_ Derek. I’m right here. I love you and I want to be the person you can be vulnerable with. Do you not trust me?” Stiles was breathing hard and he could see a cold look on Derek’s face, wall completely in tact and in no danger of breaking down.

“No and I don’t _need_ you either, now leave me alone.” And with that Derek was turning away from Stiles once again, heading to his car and taking off. Stiles felt his heart break into a million pieces, and not for the first time.

“He’s lying.” Scott’s voice sounded from over by the door. Stiles looked over and Scott was tapping at his ear with a sympathetic look on his face, “I heard it.”

“I know. Doesn’t really make it better though.” Scott approached him and slapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry for eavesdropping, bro. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.” Scott wrapped Stiles in a quick hug before leading him back to the bar, “Let’s get one more drink and then I’ll take you home, yeah?”

Stiles had just nodded, following his best friend in miserable silence.

That was what had led him here the next day. Standing in front of Derek’s door for hours, begging to be let in. He’d decided that morning that he wasn’t going to let Derek lie to him and try and push him away anymore.

“Derek, I swear, I will call Scott and he will break down this door for me. You know he will.” Stiles took his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it slowly so that Derek would hear the clicks before it opened up.

It worked like a charm because suddenly the door was being pulled open. Derek was dressed in his work out clothes and he was sweaty – ridiculously sweaty – like as if he’d purposefully turned off the air conditioning before doing a million push ups sweaty.

“What?” Derek said through clenched teeth. Stiles ignored the hostility and pressed into the apartment, Derek didn’t stop him.

Stiles saw that the punching bag that Derek had hung from the ceiling when he moved in had broken off its chains. It was lying pathetically on the floor and the dry wall around the installation above head was dangerously cracked. Stiles was silently grateful that the chains had broken before the ceiling had caved in.

“Stiles, please leave.” Derek’s voice was low and the fight he’d had left in him last night was nowhere to be found. It gave Stiles the courage to go up and wrap his arms around Derek’s middle. Derek returned the embrace, but only just. “Please let me handle this on my own.” Derek pleaded.

“But you don’t need to.” Stiles whispered into his chest and then Derek was pushing him off again.

“Why can’t you just respect my wishes? Where is this coming from all of a sudden?” _Ahh, there’s the fight from last night._ Stiles hadn’t missed it.

“It’s not all of a sudden. It’s been like this the entire time we’ve been together! I’m just trying to help you!” Stiles tried to keep his inside voice, not wanting to start another yelling match.

“You can help me by leaving. Why aren’t you listening to me?” Derek stomped into the kitchen, busying himself with something so that he didn’t have to look Stiles in the eye.

“Because I know you’re lying to me. You _do_ need someone and I just don’t understand why you don’t think I can be that someone for you!”

“Because it’s all about you, right Stiles? Your feelings are hurt because I’m not opening up to you? Is that it?” Stiles stayed silent at that for fear of saying the exactly wrong thing, though it didn’t seem to matter because Derek just continued, “What are you going to say, huh? You want me to talk about my dead family? So you can tell me how you lost your mom and you understand?” Stiles stopped breathing, “You don’t understand Stiles, you could never understand. I’m not even asking you to understand. I’m just asking you to LEAVE.”

Stiles would’ve thought he’d feel angrier, but something about the whole monologue just reinforced what he already knew. Derek was trying to push him away, to fight with him and hurt him so that he’d go, and Stiles wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“I’m not falling for this trap. I’m not taking the bait. You want to fight? Fight with yourself cause I’m not engaging. Now, I’m going to order a pizza, put on a movie, and sit on the couch. Join me or don’t, your choice, but I’m not going anywhere.” Stiles turned on his heel without waiting for a response and did as promised.

About halfway into _The Empire Strikes Back_ , Derek joined him, offering him a coke as a peace offering. Stiles took it and they let it lie… for now.

~~~

A few months later, the pack was having another night out at the bar. It was a Tuesday, which meant it was karaoke night – Stiles’ favorite. Derek always pretended to hate it, but Stiles knew better. Derek could never seem to wipe the wide smile off his face when Stiles was singing.

The first time they’d attended karaoke night, everyone had cringed when Stiles was the first to volunteer to go up. Stiles had the looks of shock on his friend’s faces photographed in his memory from when they realized how good he was. It wasn’t something he advertised ever, but his mom had loved to sing and so Stiles figured it was in his blood. The only one who hadn’t been surprised was Scott, since they’d grown up together and all.

Right now though, Erica and Isaac were singing a frankly abysmal version of ‘Like A Virgin’ by Madonna together. Stiles laughed when Isaac almost fell off the tiny stage when trying to hump the air obscenely and he could see Derek smirking as well.

When they returned to the couches where the pack usually sat, they were bowing dramatically.

“Thank you, thank you. I know, we _are_ great aren’t we?” Erica hopped into Boyd’s lap and he kissed her temple while she continued thanking the group for their support.

The song choice sparked up a conversation in the group that eventually led to everyone talking about their own first times. Scott waxed poetry about Allison, while Lydia and Jackson begrudgingly admitted they’d been each other’s first times as well, Erica pretended to be shocked as Boyd talked about some girl name Jessica that he’d met at camp one summer.

“How about you, Derek?” Liam asked innocently. Everyone at the table immediately froze. It’d been all their faults really. Liam hadn’t joined their pack until later on in high school and while it’d been six years since then, the occasion to divulge Derek’s life story hadn’t really ever come up.

Stiles snuck a look at Derek who was staring at Liam with a blank expression on his face.

“It was with the woman who set my house on fire and killed my entire family.” Derek said simply, like it meant and cost him nothing at all to do so.

Liam’s mouth dropped and he looked like he might say something else but Scott just put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head minutely.

“Lydia!” Stiles shouted, way louder than necessary since no one had started singing again yet and so the bar was relatively quiet, “Weren’t you going to grace us with your beautiful singing voice next?”

Lydia looked surprised but seemed to understand that Stiles was just looking for a distraction. Lydia nodded, a smug smile on her face. “Of course.”

Even though Stiles had managed to put an end to the conversation, Derek still stood a moment later, gathering his jacket in his arms and closing his fingers tightly around his keys. Stiles grabbed at his forearm.

“Don’t leave?” Stiles rubbed his thumb back and forth on Derek’s arm and looked at him imploringly.

Derek just kissed him on the forehead, mumbling as he responded, “I’ll text you later.”

Stiles watched him leave and hung his shoulders in defeat. He didn’t have the energy to chase after him this time. Liam looked at Derek’s retreating form and then back at Stiles – his eyes wide and terribly sorry.

“Don’t worry about it man, it’s not your fault.” Stiles consoled him, even as he wished someone would do the same for him. He couldn’t take this much longer.

~~~

More months passed and things were pretty much normal. Only occasionally would Stiles be reminded of Derek shutting him out, but most of the time, all was right with the world.

Then they fought again, when Derek was, once again, pulling away and putting up barriers between the two of them. Stiles had confronted him and Derek had insisted that nothing was bothering him but Stiles knew him better than Derek ever gave him credit for.

A few days later, Stiles managed to convince Derek to come to karaoke night. Derek had agreed easily – little did he know what Stiles had planned. When Stiles told Erica and Lydia of his plan, they’d looked at him like he was crazy.

“He’s going to absolutely hate that.” Lydia told him slowly; like she was worried he wouldn’t grasp the words otherwise. Erica was nodding ardently in agreement.

“If there’s one thing my mom taught me: it’s that there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a song. I mean she’d been talking about musicals at the time, but the point still stands.” Stiles raised his eyebrows expectantly, and Erica and Lydia reluctantly agreed to help.

When the pack settled in on their usual few couches near the stage that night, Stiles waited to see Lydia and Erica holding their microphones and giving him a thumbs up. He placed a kiss on Derek’s lips before standing; Derek grabbed his hand to stop him from walking away.

“You singing tonight?” Derek asked, the corner of his lips twitching even as he tried to hide that it pleased him. Stiles leaned over to give him another kiss before nodding his head.

He made his way to the stage and saw the rest of the pack looking nervous on his behalf. Lydia and Erica must’ve spilled the beans. Stiles was equally anxious and prayed internally that Derek would be receptive to what Stiles had planned.

Stiles grabbed the microphone, his hands sweaty. He wasn’t used to being edgy before performing and took a deep breath before nodding to Lydia to press play on the instrumental.

He met Derek’s eyes as the music started and could see his boyfriend’s wide grin and intense gaze even in the darkness of the bar.

“ _Wanna believe, wanna believe, that you don't have a bad bone in your body but the bruises on your ego make you go wild, wild, wild, yeah. Wanna believe, wanna believe, that even when you're stone cold, you're sorry, tell me why you gotta be so out of your mind, yeah._ ” Stiles could see the smile slipping from Derek’s face, and for a moment he looked confused, “ _I know you're chokin' on your fears. Already told you I'm right here. I will stay by your side every night._ ”

Stiles jumped from the stage with the wireless microphone Lydia had gotten from the owner of the bar for the song. Lydia and Erica joined in on the chorus as Stiles made his way to Derek, looking at him in the eyes beseechingly as he belted the words.

“ _I don't know why you hide from the one, and close your eyes to the one, mess up and lie to the one that you love. When you know you can cry to the one, always confide in the one, you can be kind to the one that you love._ ” By the time he finished the chorus, Derek seemed to understand what was happening and Stiles could see he was blushing red to the tips of his ears due to the attention.

The whole bar was watching them but Stiles didn’t care. After a moment of harmonizing the ‘ah’s’ of the song with the girls, Derek’s expression had changed again. Stiles couldn’t decide if the look on Derek’s face was wounded or annoyed and so he turned to the stage to be able to get through the next verse without losing his nerve.

“ _I know you need, I know you need, the upper hand even when we aren't fighting. 'Cause in the past, you had to prepare every time, yeah. Don't wanna leave, don't wanna leave but if you're gonna fight then do it for me._ ” Stiles turned back to Derek and fell to his knees in front of him theatrically to sing the next line, “ _I know you're built to love, but broken now, so just try, yeah._ ”

Stiles stood slowly back to his feet to sing through the chorus once more, all the while meeting Derek’s focused glare. “ _I know you're chokin' on your fears. Already told you I'm right here. I will stay by your side every night._ _I don't know why you hide from the one, and close your eyes to the one, mess up and lie to the one that you love. When you know you can cry to the one, always confide in the one, you can be kind to the one that you love._ ” Stiles twirled away to vocalize once more, giving Derek the room to stand from his place on the couch.

Stiles looked back to Derek almost immediately when he saw the expressions on Lydia and Erica’s faces and noticed that Derek was about to leave. In one last attempt of desperation, Stiles approached him and grabbed him by the shirt to make sure he stayed looking at him for the next part: “ _I know it's hard for you, but it's not fair. Going sick in the head tryna get you there and I know it's hard for you, but it's not fair. It's not fair._ ”

Derek stilled and all the irritation disappeared as he listened to the words. Stiles put as much honesty and emotion into them as possible, and could feel himself tearing up as he sang the last chorus in time with the slower melody, “ _I don't know why you hide from the one, and close your eyes to the one, mess up and lie to the one that you love. When you know you can cry to the one, always confide in the one, you can be kind to the one that you love._ ”

Stiles took a deep breath in anticipation for the final ‘ah’s’ of the song with Lydia and Erica, when suddenly his breath was cut short as Derek slammed their mouths together in a passionate kiss. Stiles could hear the claps from the other patrons while Lydia and Erica finished up the song themselves.

Derek grabbed the back of Stiles’ neck and wrapped a hand around his waist to pull him closer. Stiles could tell Derek was trying to convey everything he couldn’t say in words with the embrace. When they pulled apart, Stiles realized people were still clapping, even though the song had long been over. Then he proceeded to turn beet red at the realization that they were clapping for him and Derek.

Derek ignored the attention, which was unusual for him, and just pulled Stiles into an impossibly tight hug. “I’m sorry.” Derek whispered into his ear, and Stiles just shook his head, holding on tighter as well.

“I just love you, Sourwolf. I just care.” Derek nodded.

“I love you too.”

~~~

Weeks later, during the anniversary of Laura’s death – Derek asked Stiles to come with him to visit her grave. They sat on the grass for hours while Derek told Stiles stories of her and how much of a troublemaker she’d been.

There was laughing and crying and Stiles just let Derek set the pace, letting him embrace Stiles when he wanted, or stay silent as long as he needed.

On the way out, they stopped to visit Stiles’ mom as well. Stiles dropped a single flower on the ground and got to his knees. He began to sing one of his mom’s favorite songs for her. When he was done, he got up and grabbed Derek’s hand to lead them both out.

Derek was looking at him curiously and Stiles just shrugged, answering the unspoken question. “There’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a song.”

Derek squeezed Stiles’ hand in his and smiled, understanding completely.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://victorialovesstiles.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Song lyrics are credited to Halsey and Marshmello! The italicized words while Stiles is singing came directly from the song, I don't own the lyrics or the song! (obviously lol).
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


End file.
